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Top 20 WiiWare Games in America (13th August)

It’s Wednesday again, time to look at what the most popular games are in the Wii Shop. To check for yourself simply log on to your Wii Shop channel, go into the WiiWare section and then view “Popular Games”.

We are checking the list for the American region, so if you live elsewhere your list will probably be a lot different. Feel free to post your findings below as always.

Amazing scenes this week as Strong Bad steals first place in the charts, this is unprecedented in the first week of game sales. Heck it only came out 2 days ago. Finally something to topple the reign of the lacklustre Pokemon Ranch!

Pong Toss surprisingly holds firm in 2nd place for another week. We’re saying nothing! Another surprise was Wild West Guns sneaking past the mighty Dr Mario this week too. It’s a game worth checking out so it’s good to see it get the recognition it deserves and not just fade away into obscurity after one week.

The rest of the chart is pretty predictable as usual. The painfully average Protöthea goes into the pit of Hades this week, please do yourself a favour and buy Toki Tori this week if you haven’t already, this is a game which certainly doesn’t deserve to be so low in the charts.

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Darren is Nintendo Life’s Batman: fearless in the face of danger, he loves gadgets and talking in a really, really deep voice. As Operations Director he stays mostly behind the scenes in a room he insists on calling “The Batcave”.

Very happy to see SBCG4AP up at first. As for the person who mentioned brand recognition as the reason why, Homestarrunner.com may be popular but is in no way a household name like Pokemon or Final Fantasy.

I pleasantly surprised that Strongbad made #1 so soon. I won't say anything about the others, except it's also nice to see Toki Tori hasn't dropped off the map yet. Puzzle games that don't have to do with falling blocks usually don't get very popular, so I'm not too surprised to see it where it is.

Personally I think it's the name that's selling the game. I mean, I'd imagine people just look at the title and say "that game was made for me!".

@Bahamut ZEROTrust me when I say that Canadian beer is a lot stronger than the watered down crap they sell in America. I would also point out that the only thing a Canadian likes just as much as hockey, is beer.

On topic, it's sad to see that Pop and Toki Tori will be next off the lists.

While I'm cheering for MPR finally getting dethroned and WWG making it high up on the charts, the rocket launch of Strong Bad does have me a bit concerned. It's not that Strong Bad is a bad game, but I fear that it shot to the top based on name branding rather than actual merit.

One could say, "but wiirocks, Strong Bad was a highly anticipated game!" And I'd agree with you. Except that many other WiiWare titles have been highly anticipated yet never reached a very high standing. The fact that Strong Bad did reach a high standing and the other games didn't tells me one thing:

The majority of WiiWare buyers shop on impulse rather than information.

Since buyers are uninformed, you can shove them a frozen turkey sandwich and they'll buy it as long as it's in the shape of Maddox, the resident internet jester. Meanwhile, games that are solidly built, original, and ready to launch a new genre will be ignored by the average WiiWare consumer.

The one ray of hope is DYC. Not to keep harping on the issue, but DYC did prove that the only thing WiiWare shoppers like more than a brand name is a good deal. (Real or perceived.) So anyone who wants to succeed in this space without a brand name needs to drop prices FAST. And yes, that even means beloved games like Toki Tori.

On another note, I did just help edit a review for Strong Bad. If you're itching for a review and just can't wait for WiiWare World's, then go check it out. It can't compare to the wonderful penmanship of the WiiWare World editors, but it does cover the subject reasonably well.

(And yes, that is a direct compliment to you WW folks. Your mastery of the written word is one of the highlights that makes this site so enjoyable. )

Woot! Go Strong Bad! Even with it being on sale for PC at the same time it still rocketed up! I think both the niche brand name and anticipation helped, plus Telltale has a bit of a following because of Sam & Max. Proof that marketing can help WiiWare.

Still can't believe Pong Toss is so high, but I tend to disagree with most of my fellow Americans in taste anyway. At least Wild West Guns is doing well. See, you don't need a brand name to sell on WiiWare! I understand why Toki Tori is so low (despite my love for it) because frankly it doesn't look like much at first glance- you have to read reviews to get interested in it. At least I did.

Still no review. Hooray for Strong Bad already hitting No.1 on the charts and dislodging Pokemon Ranch. Can't believe that Pong Toss is still N0.2 and that Wild West Guns is in 4th. Dr Mario getting pushed down was something i didn't expect

Woha! Pokemon descends not one but two steps in the ranks. Bad for Pong Toss, but good for Strong Bad. I guess there was a lot of expectation for this game from Homestarrunner fans. Let's hope it remains high in the following weeks.

Also, what happened with Toki Tori? didn't they notice that I bought it this week?

@hansolo350Weekly is unlikely. The list updates instantly. The question is, how far back do they count sales? That might be a week... How many it's sold within the last 7 days... possible, but I'd think a little longer than that. Again, we clearly don't know how this list works, all we can say it that it shows what's popular "right now".

Wow I can't believe what I am seeing. Pokemon Ranch was knocked down from #1 but not just #1 it is now in #3. Well finally something mustered up enough to knock down Pokemon Ranch. But I still can't believe that Pong Toss is at #2. I still have yet to buy a Wiiware game yet. Waiting for Mega Man 9 to come next month.

If you guys think that Mega Man 9 will shoot up as fast as Strong Bad Episode 1, just wait until the other 4 Strong Bad episodes come out. They are probably going to shoot up as fast or faster than Episode 1.

Save Toki Tori .Save Toki Tori .Hes so cute .Well last week i bought that game leaving 3100 points left in my account & emptying my Wii menu even more .Still its wortyh a download as i loved that game & i even got a Toko Tori wallpaper for my pda .

I'm more than pleased with this list, more specifically with Strong Bad's success. For those who are worried about people buying games because of name brands, I wouldn't worry too much. Strong Bad and Telltale are popular but not household names...well, at least probably not your guys'.

I think we're seeing more shift in the list because games like MPR and Dr. Mario are finally losing their luster. Unlike the VC's top 20 list, I don't think one game will dominate forever. I believe we're going to have quite a lot of movement as the weeks carry on. Hope so at least.

Again, the way the list works has "changed". We either hit the upper limit of how far back they count sales, people found out re-downloads count and are abusing it, or Nintendo decided to change how it's tabulated to prevent Pokemon from reigning forever.

You know, I'm really not surprised by these lists anymore. Although I am happy that Strong Bad is #1, it is an excellent game.

I just don't care about the top 20 anymore. Continue to buy games like Pong Toss and My Pokemon Ranch, America. I'll continue to enjoy great games like Toki Tori and Star Soldier R. Although it is a shame that Toki Tori never got support from the American market, it really is a brilliant game. I was hoping for a sequel

I guess the re-downloading are saving a lot of the bad games. I looked into the Nintendo Channel (which has additional information now in Europe ) and every game had at least the circle Diagrams... except for SPOGS and Pirates. I don't understand the later, but it shows that SPOGS players either don't use Nintendo Channel or that there weren't enough who could play it more than 59 minutes

Um Bensei, people who cram their Wii with downloaded games currently don't have any space available for the Nintendo Channel, and probably won't until they release a storage option for Wii. So those who stuff their Wiis are unfairly not represented as well in the stats, because they delete the unessentials first.

Again, this list does not mean that Pong Toss has outsold Toki Tori. Just that Pong Toss has been downloaded more than Toki Tori over the last few days/weeks/month. Which is 100% believable, but in NO WAY shows how successful a title is/was. All this list shows is what's being downloaded "right now", so of course older titles will fall off the list.

@thewiirocksYou have pointed out the very reason why we are forced to be in the dark in USA about releases for VC and WW. Nintendo has realized that Wii consumers impulse buy. That is why we get limited titles per week instead of a dozen or so.I have a sneaking suspicion that more casual players are online with Wii than people think. And I personally have seen several people who fit the casual demographic playing VC/WW titles at their house back when I delivered pizzas. WW is being geared in part to appeal to the Pop Cap/internet browser game audience.Nintendo just needs to realize that this demographic is having storage issues as well because a small storage space is not conducive to impulse buys.

Ian Daemon,Do you mean you do not believe that more casual gamers are online than people think or do you disagree with the WW is being geared towards the Pop Cap/Internet browser audience?Or were you just knocking my old job?